Art Lovers and Such

While visiting Shanghai in early 2000′s I stumbled upon the work of artist Liu Wei. Born in Beijing, Wei is one of the original Chinese contemporary artists to give birth to the Cynical realism movement. As a lover of contemporary art, I found Wei’s work to be fresh and raw. I’m not alone because as of yesterday his piece titled “A Good Dog” sold at Sotheby’s for £1,143,040.

Now if you’re not familiar with the contemporary art world these days then this price of over one million pounds for a painting from a living artist may seem a bit shocking. But you are not likely to find the artists or the collectors that fetch work at such price tags to be the least bit apologetic. Why should they be either? In rough economic times the world of contemporary art is providing refuge for safe investment — with perhaps only a slight bit of illogical and rapid return on investment. Yes, times have changed.

If only I’d had the foresight to buy in on Liu Wei’s piece at £25,000. This is the stuff art collector dreams are made of. But I do not collect simply as a speculator but also I collect things that I find personally pleasing and eye catching. I like different and out of the ordinary canvases, colours and from artists with interesting stories. So, imagine my surprise when a tweet passed through my feed today that contained all of the above.

The piece is from a new artist and it is titled “Wu Wei”. In chatting with the artist he stated that the piece was inspired by his studied of the Tao Te Ching and was his attempt at capturing “Wu Wei’s meaning of action / non-action and simplicity.” All interesting and I personally find his piece to be eye catching and raw — painting on a shipping pallet canvas and boldness. While the approach isn’t entirely new, the artist’s personal story certainly is. Fortunate for him because in today’s world of contemporary art, often the artists story drives price. In this case the artist is also the Isle of Man’s de jure King called David Howe. David, a cousin of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is American born with a royal title only slightly older than his entry into the world of contemporary art.

David states “I have no plans to abandon royalty for the art world but I probably live closer to the life of an artist / hippie with a day job than I do a royal.” David also stated that he’s already had critics weigh in on his “Wu Wei”. One friend encouraged “Don’t quit your day job”. David jokes he had thought of taking his head but deleted the Facebook comment instead. “Beauty is in the eye of beholder.” AGREED.

Good natured ribbing aside, David’s critic-friend might find one of Liu Wei’s pieces titled “Indigestion II” on display at The Saatchi Gallery in London to be more his tastes. Even a lover of Wei’s might not take an immediate grab at this but as sculpted pieces go, if it sold today, a million pound price might be expected.

As for David’s piece and his expectations he states, “I’m just a laid back dude. I don’t know what value my art might have to a collector.”

Writers Note: I made “His Royal Highness” an offer but I won’t tell how much.